CLI: Using Locate

CLI= Command Line Interface

Bash

you get a list of the paths to files that you have to type or cut&paste onto the commandline.

Here's a simple script using Bash's select command that makes things much nicer:

#!-bin-bash

#name of script(file) is loc.sh # Ctrl-c to exit

select word in $(locate "$1") do cd $(dirname "$word") less "$word" done

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As root, move the file tousr-local-bin (or some other directory on your PATH echo $PATH) and make it executable with:

chmod +rx loc.sh

Now, put this in your ~-.bashrc:

alias loc='source loc.sh'

and do:

source ~-.bashrc

Now, when you enter, for example:

$ loc java

at the prompt, you'll get something like this:

$ loc java 1)doc-2.4.19-Documentation-java.txt 2)doc-HOWTO-Apache-Compile-HOWTO-ssjava.html 3)doc-HOWTO-JavaStation-HOWTO-javastationboot-bootyourjavastationchapter.html 4)doc-HOWTO-Secure-Programs-HOWTO-java.html 5)doc-HOWTO-XML-RPC-HOWTO-xmlrpc-howto-java.html 6)doc-usr-share-doc-kernel-doc-2.2.20-Documentation-java.txt.gz 7)usr-lib-mc-syntax-java.syntax 8)usr-share-a2ps-sheets-java.ssh r r 9)usr-share-automake-java-clean.am 10)usr-share-automake-java.am #?

Enter 1, anddoc-2.4.19-Documentation-java.txt will open in less.

When you exist less, you'll see the same list. Exit the script with Ctrl-c and you'll be indoc-2.4.19-Documentation-. If the file won't display in less (like device files indev),

$ loc xda

1)dev-xda 3)dev-xda2 5)dev-xda4 7)dev-xda6 9)dev-xda8 2)dev-xda1 4)dev-xda3 6)dev-xda5 8)dev-xda7 #?

$ 1

less will exit with an error message:

dev-xda is not a regular file (use -f to see it)

and you'll be indev-.

If the list is too long to display on a single screen, scroll buffer with Shift-UpArrow (on most boxes), and when you see the right entry, enter its number then.

Hope some of you find this as useful as I do,

AC

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